


It's Just Indifference

by dontyoublink



Series: Can we always be this close? [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Alya Salt, Damian Wayne Feels, F/M, Fluff, Gabriel's A+ parenting, Lila Rossi Lies, Lila salt, Mentioned Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Mentioned Chloé Bourgeois, Mentioned Kagami Tsurugi, Mentioned Luka Couffaine, Pre-Relationship, The rest of Marinette's class is there too but not named, but tries to hide it, class salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:22:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24712309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontyoublink/pseuds/dontyoublink
Summary: Marinette thought she would just get some inspiration for her designs when she headed to the park. As luck would have it, she also meets four (interesting? unique? slightly insane?) Americans. Frisbee, ice cream, and much-needed conversations ensue.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Series: Can we always be this close? [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795474
Comments: 52
Kudos: 1379





	It's Just Indifference

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "I Forgot That You Existed" by Taylor Swift, which first inspired this idea. If something seems similar to another Daminette story, it's probably because I've practically read them all more than once, so I guess it's inspired by all of you, too!

Marinette tilted her head back, shut her eyes, and took a moment to appreciate the warmth of the summer sun. When she had looked out her window that morning, she hadn’t been able to resist the draw of the beautiful weather and quickly headed to a nearby park.

Now, a couple hours later, her sketchbook was practically overflowing with new designs for summer clothing. Between the sudden stroke of inspiration, the clear skies, and no school to worry about, it was already shaping up to be a great day.

_If only Hawkmoth would have a change of heart_ , Marinette thought wryly, _then it would be perfect_.

Thoughts of Hawkmoth quickly led to thoughts of her friends-turned-teammates, who had recently become permanent miraculous holders. Over the past two years, the akumas had become increasingly more dangerous, to the point that Ladybug and Chat Noir agreed that they could no longer waste time tracking down their temporary allies. It had only been a few months, but Ryuko, Viperion, and Abeille were nearly as beloved as the original heroes.

Kagami and Luka had been surprised by this change, but Chloé had been downright shocked. Shortly after Lila returned to Françoise-Dupont, Chloé approached Marinette and apologized for the years of bullying her. She saw what Lila was doing to Marinette and had been horrified to realize that she had been just like the girl before Ladybug inspired her to change. It had taken some time and a lot of trust, but Chloé eventually became one of Marinette’s closest friends. She was reunited with Pollen, under the condition that she had to create a new hero persona.

The three were some of the best friends and teammates Marinette could have asked for; unfortunately for her, they were all currently out of town. Kagami was in Japan for a fencing tournament, Luka was touring France with the band he joined after Kitty Section dissolved, and Chloé and her mother were visiting the New York branch of Audrey’s company.

Marinette couldn’t be happier for her friends, but without them around it was hard to keep her thoughts from the _what ifs_ that had plagued her for the past few years.

_What if Lila had never returned to school?_

_What if her friends had listened to Marinette’s warnings?_

_What if her teacher had actually done something about the bullying?_

_What if her school had taken her and her parents’ reports seriously?_

She would probably be at this park with most of her class, listening to Max mediate an argument between Alix and Kim. Nino would be trading music samples with Rose, Juleka, and Ivan, the group talking about their influences and giving each other tips, and Mylène would chime in every now and then from her spot next to Ivan. Marc and Nathaniel would be working on the upcoming issue of their comic, while she and Alya chatted about the Ladyblog or Marinette’s recent commissions. And Adrien—

Her heart ached with sympathy, as it did every time she thought of the boy. He had pulled her aside after class one day, and Marinette didn’t think she could despise Gabriel more than Nino did but, well, here they were.

_“Marinette?”_

_The girl looked up to see an obviously distressed Adrien standing by her desk._

_  
“Adrien? Are you okay?” She watched as he glanced nervously around the classroom before turning back to her._

_“I don’t have a lot of time, but I need to talk to you.”_

_“Um, okay, what—” Before she could finish, words seemed to explode from him._

_“I’m so sorry! I was wrong about taking the high road! After I got Lila to fix your expulsion, she went to my dad and now he’s forcing me to play nice with her! I want to support you because you don’t deserve any of this, but he’s threatening to pull me out of school and if he does then I still can’t help you and Lila will probably tell everyone it’s your fault and I don’t know what to do, I just—”_

_Marinette was stunned by the revelation that Adrien had been the one to get Lila to retract her accusations, but quickly decided that it was something to process later. “Adrien,” she cut him off, placing her hands on his shoulders. “I know how important coming to school is for you, and I don’t want Gabriel to take that away just because you helped me.”_

_“But—”_

_“No, Adrien,” she said firmly. “I won’t let that happen. And you’re right, she probably would convince people it’s my fault and then we’d both be worse off. If you want to defy him, do that for yourself, not me.”_

_Adrien let out a shaky breath. “Okay. I’ll play along for now, but I’m still going to do what I can to keep Lila away from you. You’re my friend, and you’re important to me.”_

_Marinette smiled sadly. “Thanks Adrien, you’re important to me too.”_

_He jolted as his phone started vibrating, and he pulled it out. “I gotta go.” Before she could respond, he pulled her into a hug that was over as soon as it started. “I’ll—I’ll talk to you later.” And with that, he ran out of the room._

_As Marinette watched, it felt like a fog had been lifted for the first time since she met Adrien. Instead of seeing her crush, she saw a boy who was trying his best but was scared of losing everything._

After that conversation, her crush had melted away with surprising ease. She rarely got to talk to him for more than a few minutes, but she was sure that he was the reason that the class mostly ignored her instead of outright hating her. She was worried about Gabriel’s treatment of him, but Lila made it exceedingly difficult to reach out.

Lila. The girl had made good on her threat to take her friends away. By now, the sharp pain of loss had become a dull ache that she could mostly ignore, but sometimes it still overwhelmed her.

Marinette could tell she was headed for one of those times, so she tried to bring herself back to the present with a grounding technique she learned from her therapist.

_Okay, five things that I hear. One, a couple of dogs barking. Two, kids laughing as they run around. Three, cars driving by the park. Four, someone shouting “Watch out!”—wait, what?_

Her eyes flew open as her arm shot up and her hand closed around something hard. She blinked a few times and look down to see that she was holding a frisbee.

“How did you do that?” Four guys of varying ages were staring at her in shock. The one who spoke to her was the oldest, who looked to be in his late 20s.

Marinette laughed nervously. “Ah, good reflexes?”

“I'll say,” another one muttered. She immediately recognized him as an insomniac, runs-on-caffeine-and-willpower kindred spirit, if the dark circles under his eyes and his general air of bone-deep exhaustion were anything to go by.

“You wanna join us? We’re playing two-on-two, but we could work a fifth in.” Marinette was surprised by the offer, given by the tallest of the bunch whose shock had melted into a friendly smile that counteracted his otherwise intimidating presence.

“Oh, I don’t—” but before she could finish, she was cut off by the one who seemed to be about her age.

“Please, Todd, it’s not like she could keep up.” He kept his eyes trained on her with a suspicious glare.

_Oh, it’s on._ “I’ll be on whichever team he’s not.” She stood up, took off her purse, and set it on top of her sketchbook, all the while returning his glare. In her peripheral, she saw the other three grin.

“Good choice, sunshine,” ‘Todd’ replied. “You’re with me and Tim,” Tim nodded. “I’m Jason, by the way,” he continued, then gestured to the others. “That’s Dick—” Dick gave her a bright smile and a wave, “—and the one who can’t keep his eyes off you is Damian, but I prefer to call him Demon Spawn.”

“Fuck off, Todd,” Damian scowled before turning and striding off. Marinette noted that the back of his neck was turning a shade of red that probably matched the blush on her cheeks.

Jason just smirked. “C’mon, we’ll explain the rules and get started.”

She shook off his comment because _that_ _definitely was not what was happening, nope, not at all_ , and, with one last glance at her purse, followed after the boys.

* * *

Despite her years of experience as Ladybug, Marinette was breathing heavily. The game was tied 20-20, and both sides had agreed to a quick timeout before battling for the final point. Marinette and her team had been doing well, but there was one problem—she was too short. Between Dick and Damian’s height and wingspan, they were able to intercept most of her long-distance throws, which forced her to rely on increasingly trickier passes. There was too much on the line now for her to risk a move like that; every time they caught one of her passes or scored a point, Damian sent her a smug grin that only served to rile her up.

_Over my dead body will he win!_

With that thought, Marinette went into Ladybug mode, rapidly creating and discarding plans in her head, until one made her pause.

“Guys,” she turned to Jason and Tim, “I have an idea.” She watched evil smirks grow across their faces that undoubtedly mirrored the look on her own, and then she launched into her plan.

* * *

Neither team had made much progress toward scoring the game-winning point until now. Damian and Dick were pushing Marinette and Jason toward their own goal, forcing them to play defense.

Marinette saw Tim hanging back around the middle of their makeshift game field. When they made eye contact, she knew it was time.

She looked at Jason, who gave her a nod before rushing his brothers and swiping the frisbee. He spun around and threw it to Marinette. Before she even caught it, he turned again and dropped into a crouch a few steps in front of her. This caught the attention of his brothers, and their hesitation was exactly what Marinette needed. She ran towards Jason, leapt onto his back, and, using him as a springboard, launched herself into the air and whipped the frisbee to Tim with deadly accuracy.

As she landed in a crouch, she heard a few shouted curses from the other team, but it was too late. No matter how fast they sprinted, Tim had enough of a head start to reach their goal and secure a win for his team.

A loud “woo!” was the only warning she got before Jason lifted her up and sat her on his shoulder. “It worked! You’re brilliant, sunshine! Suck it, losers!” he shouted at his brothers.

Marinette crossed her arms and smiled smugly at her opponents. Dick seemed to be taking the loss well and was currently laughing at Jason’s antics. Damian, on the other hand…

She turned to him and saw that his eyebrows kept twitching, as if they couldn’t decide between raising in surprise or furrowing in annoyance. He gave her an appraising stare as Jason set her back on the ground, and then he opened his mouth.

“It seems you’re not as incompetent as I expected.”

Marinette snorted. “Oh, what high praise! I’m swooning!” She placed the back of her hand against her forehead and leaned against Jason. Damian just resumed glaring.

Dick rolled his eyes. “What he _means_ is, that was impressive! You’re very graceful, you know.” An excited grin grew on his face. “Do you happen to have an interest in gymnastics?”

Before she could deflect, Tim cut in. “Stop trying to recruit everyone we meet!” The two men started bickering in English that was too fast for Marinette to translate. She was about to interrupt them to ask exactly what she was being recruited for when she noticed that the sun had lowered significantly since she had first arrived in the park.

“This has been so much fun, but I should probably head home now.” Her eyes lit up. “Actually, you should come with me!” At their confused glances she explained, “My parents own a bakery. It's the best in Paris, if I do say so myself, and they always give my friends some pastries on the house.”

Jason, Tim, and Dick glanced at each other before turning to Damian. The boy sighed in resignation. The three older brothers turned back to Marinette. “We're in!”

* * *

“Wait, so you have a dog, a cat, and a _cow_?”

“Yes.”

“A _cow_?!”

“I fail to see why the concept of a farm animal has stumped you.”

“Normal people don’t just have cows, Damian!”

“Good thing he’s not normal,” Tim snickered, as Dick and Jason watched the back-and-forth between the teenagers with amusement.

The five were sitting at a table in the bakery. Almost as soon as they had walked through the front door, Tom and Sabine welcomed them with warm greetings and free pastries, just as Marinette had predicted. Now, the pastries were long gone, and Marinette was learning about the seemingly wild lives the four led back in America.

“I rescued her from a slaughterhouse, what else was I supposed to do?” Damian replied haughtily.

She swore she could feel her heart melt a little bit. “What’s her name?”

At this, all three of his brothers started laughing. “Yeah, Demon Spawn, what’s her name?”

“…Bat-Cow,” Damian muttered, the tips of his ears going pink.

“Bat…Cow?” Marinette repeated slowly, trying to make sense of his answer. Tim and Jason laughed even harder, but Dick took pity on the teenagers.

“Have you ever heard of Batman, the vigilante in Gotham?” At Marinette’s nod, he continued. “Well, the cow has a patch of fur on her face that looks like the symbol Batman wears, so, Bat-Cow.”

Marinette felt a mischievous smile stretch across her face as she turned back to Damian. “You named her in honor of a hero? That’s so sweet!”

“I was eleven! And he’s a vigilante, not a hero. And I’m not _sweet_!” His vehemence was undercut by the blush that was now spreading on his cheeks.

She narrowed her eyes. “I don't know. I think underneath all of this,” she waved her hand in his direction and then leaned forward, “you're actually very sweet.”

She expected him to snap back with an insult, at the very least. She did not expect him to stare at her in disbelief. She _definitely_ did not expect his eyes to turn warm with an emotion she couldn't place.

_His very pretty, very green eyes—wait what? Oh no, you're staring at him, Marinette! Say something before he thinks you’re insane! But he's still looking at me, why is he looking at me?! What in the—_

“As much fun as it is watching you tame the beast,” Marinette tore her gaze from Damian to see the others watching them gleefully as Tim continued, “it’s already been a few hours, so we should probably head back to the hotel and check in with B.”

As if on cue, Sabine swooped in to thank the boys for coming to the bakery and present them with one more bag of pastries to send them on their way. Marinette could've sworn she heard Jason mutter “Just like Alfred,” whatever that meant. The group said their goodbyes with promises that they would return to the bakery before they traveled back to America.

Marinette went to head upstairs, but her mom stopped her before she made it too far. “Marinette, it seems like you really enjoyed yourself today.”

“I did, Maman! They were really welcoming,” _mostly_ , “and just a lot of fun to be around.”

“Good,” Sabine replied firmly. “You deserve to be happy, and I don't want you to forget that.”

Marinette's answering smile was watery but no less bright for it. She really loved her parents.

* * *

Through the haze of creative energy, Marinette heard knocking on her trap door.

“Come in,” she called distractedly, keeping her eyes on the suit jacket she had spent a good chunk of her morning forming.

“What are you working on?”

Marinette jumped at the voice that _definitely_ did not belong to either of her parents. After checking to make sure she didn’t mess up the stitching on her project, she turned around with one hand placed over her racing heart.

“Damian?” she asked, disbelief coloring her voice. “What are you doing here?”

His eyes darted away from her as if he was…nervous? “I stopped by the bakery for a snack, but your mother _insisted_ I come up here because she thought I wanted to spend time with you,” he grumbled. His words would’ve held more of a bite if he hadn’t still been avoiding eye contact.

She must have been feeling magnanimous that day, as she decided to forego teasing him. “Yeah, I love her, but she can be pushy at times. Oh!” she exclaimed, remembering his question. “You asked what I was doing!”

He finally looked at her with a nod, so she continued. “You know how yesterday with your brothers, I mentioned that I was into fashion design? Well, I recently got a commission for a couple of suits to be worn at an event in a few months, so I’ve been working on the first one this morning.”

Damian took a few steps towards her and looked over her shoulder at the jacket. “You’ve made this much progress in one morning?”

Marinette giggled a little self-consciously. “Well, I have a lot of practice with suits. And this is just the base, I’ll be adding all the fun details later. Actually,” she mused, giving him a once-over, “you look like you have about the same measurements as my client. Would you mind trying it on? I’d like to see how it fits before I go further.”

Meeting his eyes again, she got the distinct impression that he was about to tell her that he _actually would mind, thank you very much_ , so she tilted her head, pouted _just_ a little, and gave him her best pleading look. “Please, Dami? It would help me so much.”

The boy stared back at her, his gaze steely, for a few moments before letting out a sigh. “I’ll do it if you swear to never call me that absurd nickname again.”

Marinette was already behind him and helping him maneuver his arms into the sleeves when she responded with a cheery, “No promises!” She could hear him grumbling, but she was focused on examining the jacket.

“Looks like it fits well in the shoulders,” she muttered to herself, running her hands across his shoulders before checking where the seams between the torso and sleeves hit.

“Arm mobility is good.” She gently lifted and circled his right and then left arm before walking to stand in front of him while reaching for the buttons. The jacket buttoned without being too loose or tightly pulling at the material, so she moved on to examining the collar and lapels. She smoothed them with her hands, then nodded approvingly.

“You must have the same measurements as my client, because the jacket looks…perfect…” She trailed off when she raised her head, the motion causing her to realize three things.

One: She was standing _very close_ to Damian.

Two: Her hands were still pressed against his chest from when she adjusted the jacket’s lapels.

And, perhaps most importantly, three: His face was a brilliant shade of red that she had previously thought the gods only reserved for her in her most embarrassed moments.

“I-it, uh, it looks, um, perfect…on…” _Dammit, why does this keep happening? Why are his eyes so distracting?_ Distantly, she felt his hand settle over one of hers on his chest, holding it there. _It’s not fair that they’re such a unique shade of green! I wonder if I could find fabric that matches? Maybe I could make—_

A loud car horn outside her window cut off her thoughts and startled both teens, who leapt apart. Marinette, eyes wide, could sense an oncoming “what the fuck” spiral, but it was blessedly stopped by Damian clearing his throat.

“I’m glad I was able to help,” he said, shrugging off the jacket and handing it to her. “I should probably go b—”

“No!” she interrupted, a bit too loudly. When her brain caught up to her mouth, she let out a weak giggle and tried again. “Heh, I mean, I should probably take a break anyway. I don’t know how often you come to Paris, but maybe I can show you something that the locals enjoy?”

He seemed to consider her offer for a few moments, then gave her a slight nod. “Alright. What do you have in mind?”

Marinette could feel the grin stretching across her face. “How you do feel about ice cream?”

* * *

“He claims his ice cream can help people find their ‘true love’? That’s absurd.”

“Yeah, well, don’t say that to him, he gets really upset.”

“Surely you don’t believe it.”

“I try not to think about it too much. Whatever I believe, it’s still the best ice cream in Paris!”

Marinette prevented Damian’s response by greeting André as they approached him. “ _Bonjour_ , André! _Comment ça va?_ ”

“ _Ça va bien!_ ” he replied with a smile. “It has been too long since I last saw you. And you brought a new friend! Lucky for you two, I just got new flavors to test!”

Before either could respond, he nodded. “Ah, yes. I see what you will get.” Whipping out a cone, he piled it high with sherbet. “Raspberry, lemon, and lime for the side he rarely shows,” he sang, handing the dessert to Marinette and pulling out another cone. “And strawberry and coconut ash for her side that no one knows!”

Marinette tried not to look unsettled as André handed Damian a cone with her Ladybug colors. Damien seemed caught between frowning at her cone and his, so she pulled him away before he could say anything. “Thanks André, you're the best!” she called out behind them.

Once they were a safe distance from the ice cream cart, the pair slowed down to a leisurely stroll.

Damian took a bite of his ice cream and seemed to consider it for a moment before speaking. “I have no idea what any of _that_ is supposed to mean,” Marinette noticed him dart a glance at her multicolored sherbet, “but this ice cream is surprisingly good.”

“Haha, me neither, but I’m glad you like it!” She laughed nervously, mentally rewinding the previous day’s conversation to find a way to change the subject. “So, yesterday you said you liked painting?”

He appeared to relax almost imperceptibly. “Yes, painting is my preferred medium, although I sketch when I’m bored during my classes.” A small smirk came to his face. “Which is most of the time.”

Marinette wanted to respond, but his mention of school stopped her in her tracks. She hadn’t thought about her own classmates once that day. In fact, she realized, she hadn’t thought about them since meeting Damian and his brothers the day before, despite her aborted panic attack.

She was shocked. Despite the years, the smallest things reminded her of her former friends. Even if she wasn’t actively thinking about them, everything that had gone down between them was usually hovering in the back of her mind, waiting to be pulled to the forefront. _Usually, except for now._

“Marinette?”

She was pulled out of her revelation by the slightly worried tone to Damian’s voice. “I’m fine, Damian. In fact, I’m really, really good.”

The boy’s eyes soften, and he opened his mouth to reply—

“Marinette?!”

This time her name was said more as an accusation, and she knew exactly who it came from.

Turning around, she found herself face-to-face with not only Alya, but most of their class, with the exception of Adrien and Chloé. They were watching her with expressions ranging from confusion to hostility, while Lila looked on with a sneer carefully hidden from the others. Clearly, she had spewed another lie, riled up the class, and pointed them in Marinette’s direction, watching to see how it played out.

Marinette sighed tiredly, knowing where this was heading. “What do you want?”

“Who is this? Another boy you manipulated into helping you make Adrien jealous?” Alya spat, the others muttering behind her. Marinette felt Damian bristle next to her, so she placed a hand on his arm to hold him back.

“You know, whatever she told you is a lie,” Alya turned to the boy. “She might seem sweet at first, but really she’s a jealous little—”

“ _Enough_ ,” Marinette practically commanded in a voice she had never used when she wasn’t Ladybug. “I have tried to explain myself before, but you never listen. None of you do.” The class shivered as she turned her cold gaze on each of them. “ _You_ decided to cut me out of your lives, so I don’t owe you _anything_. Not free clothes, not free food, and certainly not information about my life.”

With that, she turned to her companion. “C’mon, we have some ice cream to finish.”

As they walked away, she couldn’t help smiling. For the first time, she was able to walk away from a confrontation with them and feel absolutely _nothing_. It was freeing.

“I have to admit,” Damian said with a small but genuine smile—the first she’d seen from him—as he looked at her, “that was pretty impressive.”

Marinette just beamed even brighter.

**Author's Note:**

> I am obsessed with Bat-Cow. Also, I searched "black ice cream" and found coconut ash; I've never tried it, I have no idea if it's actually good. ALSO, I planted the seeds for a follow-up one shot if people are interested in reading more, and I have a vague idea for a third part. Let me know what you think! 
> 
> Comment ça va? = How are you?
> 
> Ça va bien = I’m doing well


End file.
